In a village far outside the capital city of Vantall, a father told his son a story. It was a story of magic and mystery, of dragons and draugrs, of romance and resurrection. The boy loved the story so much, he asked to hear it every night so he could memorize every word. He took the values of the story with him as he grew up, but his eyes always remained fixed on one thing. Magic. Blazing fireballs launched at dragons. Golden light bringing adventurers back from the brink of death. Riding bolts of lightning across the sky. The boy was enraptured by its beauty.
The boy was named Trent, and he would wield that power, whatever it took.
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In a hidden room in the Magic College of Vantall.
Cloaked figures stood around a table, discussing the next years applicants.
"Why must peasants use such poor magic?" One complained, their silhouette wide, leafing through a stack of enrollment papers. "Can't we just take a noble brat, save us the trouble of looking?"
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"No, you imbecile" Another remarked snidely from across the table, looking much more angular in the dim lighting. "Nobles keep track of their children. If one goes missing, we would have to go into hiding. If some commoner child goes missing, who would look for them? That's what we are looking for."
"The Magic College really should have stricter acceptance policies." A much shorter silhouette opined.
"If any of their policies were stricter, this very meeting would be much harder to get away with." The final member of the group replied, broad shoulders blending into the shadows.
"I've found one! Look here, Trent Gilden, lives in the village of Tatesworth, family of cobblers, near flawless marks on the magical theory test. Isn't that perfect?" The angular individual suggested, prompting the others to all lean in to see the paper.
"We've found our man." Said the broad shouldered one said. "Now we just have to bag him before third year and we'll be finished."
"Meeting adjourned?" The short one asked.
"Meeting adjourned." The angular man replied, turning around and walking straight through the wall.
As the members slowly left the room, the broad shouldered man slumped. "I hope you make it out of this, Trent." He muttered to himself, before grabbing his items and leaving the room himself.